A Play For Today: Inca Maps – That Wasn’t Easy single review

On their second official single, “That Wasn’t Easy”, London’s Inca Maps return with a gorgeous glacial post-dubstep reflection on the death of romance.

Relationships are complicated. When we’re in them, it’s all sweetness and light, with precious neurotransmitters rosying our vision, making our partners seem like saints, religious icons, gods/goddesses, martyrs. The dissolution of said vision can be quite disillusioning, like scales falling from our eyes, only to realize our augmented reality is actually a spoiled, decrepit hellhole.

This is the state London trio Inca Maps explore, utilizing a skein of warm, woozy sub-bass; slight, barely-there beats; and Matt Tilling’s silken falsetto, their ace in the hole. Rather than sounding like some miserablist pop, like The Smiths, or bad goth rock, “That Wasn’t Easy” is more like the sound of trying to make sense of it all, taking the sweetness and sour in equal part, as the dour, ruminative elegy gives way to Inca Maps’ signature melodic guitar bounce. Inca Maps cite big screen/big room animals Wild Beasts as an influence, evident in their glassy guitars, shimmering in a crystalline early ’80s digital sheen. Where Wild Beasts can sometimes as shrill as acupuncture on the ear drums, Inca Maps tone it down a notch, pairing their melodicism with a subdued, romantic, sometimes-melancholic edge.

For fans of James Blake or Future Islands, or those that like their Pop Music emotional and personal, or their experimental electronica with a bit of a beating heart, “That Wasn’t Easy” will slot nicely on yr mixtapes and playlists.

“That Wasn’t Easy” is the second single off of Inca Maps’ forthcoming self-titled debut EP, which is slotted to release this summer.

A Play For Today is a series of singles, dedicated to digging out outstanding singles and upcoming releases, to bring you bite-sized delights from yr new favourite bands. Got a single you’re promoting or previewing, or just got something you think we’d like? Get in touch or leave us a comment!

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